San Diego’s Plan For Electric Car Stations

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County and regional officials have unveiled a draft plan to equip San Diego with at least 1500 electric car charging stations.

SAN DIEGO  County and regional officials unveiled a draft plan to equip San Diego with at least 1500 electric car charging stations.

The Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are electric cars that should be in showrooms by December. And San Diego County is preparing by creating a car-charging infrastructure. The charging stations, called Blinks, will typically be deployed in commercial areas and maintained by local businesses. San Diego State University hopes to install ten chargers around its campus. Jonathan Read is CEO of ECOtality, the company that makes the Blink. He said charging infrastructure is key to making sure people are not afraid their electric cars will run out of juice.

"If people feel range anxiety," said Read, "they will not be satisfied with the experience. If they know they can stop at the Starbucks and get a charge or the Safeway and get a charge, they'll be successful."

The charging stations are being financed with federal stimulus funds. Read said most stations will charge users a "nominal" fee.